Railroad-rail.



Patented Nov. l4, I899. A. n. GATES.

RAILROAD BAIL.

HT EET Q I #ZZZW No. 636,789. Patented Nov. 14, I899. A. D. GATES.

RAILROAD BAIL.

(Application filed Mar. 8, 1899.)

2 sheets shaet 2,

(No Model.)

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFONSO DERAY GATES, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

RAILROAD-RAIL.

seminarians forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,789, dated November14, 1899.

Application filed March 8, 1899- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFONSO DERAY GATES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Rails; and I dodeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention has reference to railroad-rails; and. the object of theinvention is to provide a rail with overlapping or mitered extremitiesso fashioned that all the usual fish-plates, splicing-bars,union-chairs, and like devices for connecting the rails andstrengthening the joint are wholly dispensed with and the rail isadapted to be rolled into shape for use as shown.

My invention therefore consists in a rail which contains within itselfall the essential requisitesof connection or union with theconnecting-rails without the auxiliary elements usually employed to tieup and reinforce the joints, in conjunction with the associatedadvantage of rolling the rail to a finish and ready for the track as itleaves the rolls in the mill.

Having reference now to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of two united ends of my improved rails, and Fig. 2 is a planview thereof. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 3 3, Fig. 2, looking tothe rightand showing formations beyond the immediate cross-line; andFig. 4: is a cross-section on line 4 4, Fig. 2, also looking to theright. Fig. 5, Sheet 2, is a plan view of one end section of a railalone, with cross-sections thereof at both extremities to .show theformations on the lines where taken and numbered Fig. 5 and Fig. 5*,respectively. Fig. 6 is a plan view of what may be considered the sameend piece seen in Fig. 5 or the meeting end of the next rail and theextremities of which are mainly like those seen in section in Fig. 5.Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the end section seen, say, in Fig. 6 andcorresponding to the right-hand end section of rail in Fig. 1, where twoend sections are united. Three cross-sections, Figs. 7 7 and 7, areshown in connection with Fig. 7 to disclose the construction on theintermediate lines where taken, a; w, 'y y, and z 2, respectively. Fig.8 is a side elevation of its fullest points.

Serial No. 708,203. (No model.)

a rail end section just reverse of that shown in Fig. '7, and Fig. 9 isan end elevation looking along the line of the rail and showing theelevation and lateral development thereof at This accounts for theshaded lines at the right side of the figure. Fig. 10 is a longitudinalsectional view looking down in plan on a line corresponding to 10 10,Fig. 1, and disclosing the peculiar formations of the overlapping partsof the two sections. 7

As already indicated, three fundamental and paramount considerationsenter into the production of this rail, and without any one of which therail is a failure. These are, first, its peculiarity of construction,whiclf enables it to be rolled to a finish and not require hand ormachine work to finish its extremities; secondly, its self-containedcoupling or connecting elements, forming an essential part of the railitself and dispensing with all fish-bar and other separate pieces tobridge the joints, and, thirdly, the development of a rail having thesedistinguishing features and advantages with a long miter-joint, whichgives the efiect practically of a continuous rail. Having these severalpoints in View, reference may now be had to the accompanyingillustrations, particularly Sheet 2, in which the invention can bestudied'in its details. It will be understood that both ends of therails are alike in all features of construction, except in minor pointsof adaptation, so that a description of one will help to understandboth, and like features in both have the same reference charactersunless clearness demands difierent characters.

In the several figures, A and B represent all the ends of rails shown,either in separate view or united. These rails are purposely designed topreserve the popular and favorite pattern of what is known as theT-rail, with a head or tread a, side flanges b at the bottom or base,and Web 0, and for the purposes of this description it may be assumedthat these features are exactly like the T- rail in common use in so faras the body of the rail is concerned and up to the mitered ends, inwhich my invention resides. These ends have a comparatively longvertical bevel or miter face 2, running at an inclination across thelength of the rail and having the full extension seen in elevation, Fig.8, where it is shown as traversing the head of the rail from 2 to 2 andthe flange Z) from 2 to 2 This line is perfectly straight vertically andlongitudinally, as seen in several views, the same as if it had been cutacross with a saw after the ends of the rail were united. Projectingbeyond this bevel relatively about as shown in Fig. 8 is the tongue 3 ofthe web of the rail, which is essentially a'prolongation of the web andalso something more, as we shall see, but holds the flange b of the baseat the same width to its extremity and retains also part of the head a,shown in the rib a, which runs along its top from the declivity a to theend of the tongue. This declivity represents the feathered end orextremity of the miter across the head a, as seen in several views.

Having in mind now the three points of a vertical miter-joint,self-contained interlocking parts, and a rolled formation, the featuresabout to be described will be more clearly understood both as to theirown peculiarities and their association in the rail. The first of thesefeatures is the gradually-deepening head portion toward the end of therail, (seen in elevation, Fig. 7,) running from right to left andextending from about the point a to the declivity a This increase indepth is on the outside of the rail and gradually narrows also the depthof the web 0, at the expense of which the head is deepened, but thiscontributes strength, while it holds a formation that can be rolled.Incident to this deepening of the head a at one side down upon or overthe web 0 is the deepening or thickening of the web 0 itself laterallyon the same side, as plainly seen in Fig. 10, and also the total sidedeflection of tongue 3 from the median line of the web wholly outsidethereof, as also seen in this figurethat is, the median line of the webbeing indicated by 00 m, Fig. 10, the web 0 at the point of its greatestdepth 5 or 5 in said figure is deflected on a quick inclination entirelyoutside said median line, as seen at g and g. This throws the tongue 3into a parallel plane with the normal line of the web, of which it ispractically a continuation, and in position to lie flat against the webof the next rail. This deflection and reduction of the web produces adepression on this side which is matched by the deepest point in the webof the next rail B, so that what may seem the weakest point in one railis matched by the strongest point in the other; but through all thisInecessarily preserve a formation that can be rolled to shape andwithout sacrificing the other essential principles of perfectconstruction. The third feature of the three here associated with acommon object is the gradual deepening of flange b on the same side asthe other two enlargements and extending from about the point I), Fig.7, to 11 where the tongue 3 is rabbeted on its under side, as seen at Z2to receive the matching part b of the other rail, Fig. 1. Now referringto cross-section Fig. 3, where the two rails A and B are shown asunited, the aggregate of these three several special developments isdisclosed in the shaded portion indicated by m, Fig. 3, andcorresponding in appearance exactly to the cross-section of the rail Bat that point. This view in Fig. 3 is of course obtained out of theprolongation of Fig. 2, looking down along the side of the rail to the.point 4 at or point 5 in Fig. 10, which is at the summit of theseformations and their natural point of vanishment in this View.

One of the results of the foregoing construction is the production onthe extremity of the rail itself of a tongue 3, which in theorganization develops at last as a fish-bar integral with the rail andadapted to take its place between the head a and flange b and fill upthe measure of both at both its upper and lower edges, like an ordinaryfish-bar, as seen in Fig. Six several bolts 0 are shown here asconnecting the two rails, and the construction of the joint is such, aswill now clearly appear, that this is materially the strongest part ofthe rail and that as we approach the middle of the joint, where all theenlarged formations culminate, the strength is also greatest, as seen inthe very compact reinforced cross-section, Fig. 4.

The bolts C are the only parts not of the rails themselves, and inasmuchas the rails are united with three bolts on each side of the center ofoverlap and the overlap or miter is projected on an intersection at onceso gradual and strong there is no occasion to employ chairs or otherspecial supports or connections of any kind whatsoever, and this part ofthe rail takes its place directly on the crossties just the same as anyother part. Evidently also by reason of the long miter the tread is aseven at the joint as at any other part of the rail and cannot becomeotherwise.

The peculiar shape of the rail is seen from another point of View incross-section, Fig. 9. Here, again, we have a prolongation View; but theimmediate end and the further View are in a sense separated to disclosethe deflection and practical separation of the tongue 3 from the otherpart. The line of vision is on the axial line of the rail, so that hereWe see the offset shown in the flat surface 2 of the miter, Fig. 9, themiter-surface a in the head, and the miter-surface a and all losingthemselves in the normal proportions farther back. This makes the end ofthe tongue, plus its outside shadings back to its start, stand out alonein the portion marked I have described the tongue 3 as a continuation ofthe web of the rail deflected and developing practically in the form andservice of a fish-bar; but it will be noticed that there is a distinctdeparture from the relation of the fish-bar as ordinarily known byreason of the entire separation of the two tongues 3 so far as oppositerelationship is concerned. In my rail the tongues come on opposite sidesat wholly-different cross-sections and without overlapping'at any point,as is probably most plainly seen in Fig. 10.

What I claim is-- 1. As a new article of manufacture, a railroad-railhaving a mitered end and a tongue projecting beyond said end and locatedlaterally outside the plane of the web andparallel thereto, and the headand the flange on the outer side of the rail opposite the said miterformed with gradually-increasing depth and the web thickest where saidmiter begins thereon, substantially as described.

2. A railroad-rail having its end formed with a long vertical miter anda tongue having its base in said mitered portion and projected in aplane parallel to the web of the rail, and the said web thickenedlaterally on its outside near the middle of said miter and tapered onits opposite side from said thickest point to the immediate base of thetongue,

substantially as described.

3. The rail substantially as shown and described, having a verticallyand transversely mitered end and the head and flange on the outer sideof said end gradually deepened toward each other over the web, and atongue projecting beyond said .mitered end and having portions of thehead and flange of the rail continued thereon, the said tongue beingoutside the plane of the web from end to end, substantially asdescribed.

4:. A railroad-rail having a tongue at its extremity outside the planeof its web and parallel thereto and provided with bolt-holes, and avertical straight bevel across the end of the rail at the base of saidtongue, and the web, flange, and head of the rail deepening uniformlywit-h each other in cross-section toward the base of the tongue to thepoint where the said bevel begins on the web of the rail on its inside,and the deepening of the head and flange continuing past this point,substantially as described.

5. A pair of rails having each a tongue parallel to and outside thenormal line of the web and engaged between the head and flange of theopposite rail, and the web of each rail deflected bodily to one side ofits normal line at the base of said tongue and gradually thickened up tothe point where the lateral deflection begins and tapered thence to thetongue, and bolts through said webs and tongues locking the railstogether, substantially as described.

6. In railway-rails, a rail having its end finished with a straightvertical bevel and the web of the rail gradually thickened as the bevelis approached to increase its strength, and having a tongue projectingbeyond the bevel and wholly at one side of the normal plane of the web,substantially as described.

7. A railway-rail having its ends formed with a straight transversebevel and the head of the rail gradually deepened down upon the web ofthe rail opposite said bevel, and hav ing a tongue projecting beyondsaid beveled end, and having the flange of the rail continued on oneside thereof, substantially as described.

8. The rail substantially as described having its end finished with astraight transverse bevel and a tongue projected beyond said bevel andthe flange on the base of the rail opposite said bevel graduallydeepened toward the beveled-off extremity of the rail at the base ofsaid tongue, substantially as described.

Witness my hand to the foregoing specification this l3th day ofFebruary, 1899.

ALFONSO DERAY GATES.

Witnesses:

H. T. FISHER, R. B. MOSER.

